NEA

It is still Dengue Season here in Singapore. Have you been doing the Mozzie Wipeout?

Since the “ Do the Mozzie Wipeout” was kicked off last weekend the number of Dengue cases has risen even further. From 5023cases to 5712 cases. That’s another 700+ cases within a week!!

My late grandfather with my 1st born back in 2004

I personally encountered Dengue fever when my late grandfather was stricken with the disease. Complications which arose from the bout of Dengue fever which he suffered from back in 2006 inevitably let to his death.

(My Grandfather’s Story)

My late grandfather has had a history of high blood pressure. When he was 84 years old he was inflicted with Dengue fever and it led to complications due to internal bleeding. He had to be hospitalized and had to have blood transfusion as his blood platelet count dropped to a very dangerous level. While he was undergoing treatment at Alexandra Hospital he suffered a heart attack and had to be placed in the ICU for three days. In all he was in hospital for about a month undergoing various treatments to deal with Dengue fever and the complications that arose with it due to his advance age.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when he was finally discharged from the hospital and given the all clear. My grandfather couldn’t wait to return home and back to normal life after all the sufferings of being pricked and being subjected to numerous treatments while being hospitalized.

Unfortunately, his time back home was short lived as he suffered another heart attack a month later. His body was weaken by the fight with Dengue and couldn’t withstand the impact of the 2nd heart attack. He passed away at home while my grandmother was out marketing one morning.

We were all sadden by his sudden departure on the 26th of July which was 2 days before my grandmother’s birthday. The birthday celebrations that year for grandma had to be cancelled due to funeral.

Since that episode I had another mommy blogger share with me their experience with Dengue.

(My Husband’s Encounter with Dengue)

Jiahui from Mumseword.com shared with me the agony she had to go through when her husband Edmund from Edunloaded.com suffered not from one but two attacks of dengue fever.

In 2008 Edmund contracted Dengue fever for the first time. Back then he suffered from high fever and had major body aches. He didn’t know that he had Dengue fever until it was Day 6 of the onset. It was only through the blood test conducted at the GP that he knew of his diagnosis. He wasn’t hospitalized but had to take a blood test daily to monitor the blood count. He was tired all the time and didn’t even have energy to watch television or sit up. He was practically in bed the whole week.

The second time Edmund was conflicted with Dengue in 2011 he was hospitalized for over two weeks for low blood pressure. This time the virus had hit him harder then the first time.

Staying in the RED zone I have taken some extra precautions to ensure that my home is free from stagnant water and there is no chance of them breeding inside or outside our house.

Here are the activities which I have done.

1) Replaced the Bamboo Hole caps

Bamboo Hole Caps

It is important that you check that your bamboo hole caps are in “working order”. I was shocked to see the condition of my bamboo hole caps when I checked it over the weekend. Some of the caps had fallen off or even broken off due to the harsh local weather conditions. We hang our clothes indoors in the laundry area so I haven’t noticed the state of the bamboo hole caps. It was really timely that I made a check over the weekend.

I used a bottle brush to check if there was any stagnant water within each bamboo holder before replacing the old caps with the newly purchased ones.

2) Checked for stagnant water in the 5 prone areas.

The areas in the house to look out for stagnant water.

Do check the following areas in your house for stagnant water.

– Refrigerator Tray ( if your refrigerator has one)

– Dish Rack Tray

– Air-Con Tray

– Gully Trap

– Toilet Pan Collar.

3) Using Insect repellent inside and outside the house.

Plug in Mosquito repellent

I’ve been making the kids wear long sleeves and pants when we go out at night. They also get sprayed with insect repellent from head to toe each time before they leave the house.

We too have been using the plug-in mosquito repellent in the bedrooms and spraying insecticide in dark corners of the house.

What have you been doing to prevent the spread of Dengue fever in your household?

Dengue Fever has been on the rise this year. 5023 cases have been reported to date since Jan 2013 and then numbers are still rising. You just have to look at the statistics above and you would be alarmed that nearly 500 cases has been reported in the past week alone!! The figures for 2013 so far have already exceeded the 4632 cases which were reported in 2012.

Living in one of the hot spots for Dengue fever as identified by the “hotspots” shown on the Dengue website has put me on the alert. The area is defined as code RED by the Color Coded Alert System and it has made me extremely worried and cautious about my living environment.

It would be a real nightmare if any of the kids came down with Dengue fever as I know first hand how the disease can really deplete your health when my late grandfather came down with Dengue fever seven years ago. He suffered from low levels of blood platelets and had to be hospitalized for over a week when he was stung by an Ades Mosquito. It was a really horrific episode for the family as he was seriously ill during that episode.

The spread of the Dengue Fever is through the Ades Mosquito. It can be stopped if we all play our part in preventing the mosquito from breeding by removing the stagnant water around us.

To heighten Public awareness of the importance for Dengue prevention, NEA kicked off it’s Mozzie Wipeout Campaign at Senga Cashew CC and 3 other locations on the 28th of April. I was there at Senga Cashew CC to witness the kick-off and to see first hand how we can play our part by actively participating in this campaign.